やまとかも海に嵐の西吹かば
いづれの浦にみ舟繋がん
いづれの浦にみ舟繋がん
- Roma-ji
-
Yamatokamo umi ni arashi no nishi fukaba izure no ura ni mifune tsunagan
- English Translation
-
Yamatokamo—
if upon the sea a storm
blows in from the west,
then at which of all the bays
shall we moor the sacred ship?
- Meaning
- Yamatokamo! If a storm should blow from the west across the sea, in which bay shall we moor the sacred ship?
- Commentary
-
Book Nineteen Poems on the Gods 1868
Headnote: "A song said to be sung at the Kamo Shrine on the Day of the Horse."
This is the first poem in the sequence on rites and festivals. It asks in which bay the sacred ship should be moored if a storm blows from the west across the sea. According to the headnote, it is a song said to be sung at the Kamo Shrine on the Day of the Horse. It has the air of a festival song, thinking of a harbor to receive the god's ship.
No author is named in the original, and the poem is treated as continuing from the author of the preceding poem, Mimune no Masahira.
The first line, "yamatokamo," is a phrase of uncertain meaning, set down like the refrain of a song. It holds the sounds of "Yamato" and the "kamo" of Kamo, but is left in kana here.
The second line, "umi ni arashi no," means "a storm on the sea"; "no" marks the subject.
The third line, "nishi fukaba," means "if it blows from the west," a supposition formed by "ba" after the irrealis form.
The fourth line, "izure no ura ni," means "in which bay."
The last line, "mifune tsunagan," means "shall we moor the sacred ship?" "Mi" is an honorific prefix and can be read as marking the god's ship. It closes with the conjectural "n." It follows "ama no iwafune" in the preceding poem, both telling of a ship that carries a god.
- Author
- Mimune no Masahira
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Tobikakeru ama no iwafune tazunete zo Akitsushima ni wa miya hajimekeru
- Next Poem
-
Oku shimo ni iro mo kawaranu sakakiba no ka o ya wa hito no tomete kitsuran